Real Clouds Instead of a Filter

Posted by Philip in Texture Photo

When you want some clouds in PhotoShop as a texture, why use the clouds filter?  It’s a reasonable filter for what it produces, but it doesn’t make clouds.  It makes a cloud-like blotchy pattern.  I can see a bit of a pattern in this filter.  That’s because it’s created by an algorithm.

Clouds are one of the easiest things to photograph.  You generally have all the light you need.  No two photos are ever the same because clouds are truly random.  You can always find something interesting in a cloud pattern.  I have a directory of cloud patterns.  Even the simplest patterns and most boring clouds can be tweaked very quickly.

In this case I tightened the levels and then applied a high pass filter using Vivid Light as a blend mode.